This invention relates to a novel apparatus for preparing mineral water from drinking water by causing magnesium ions, calcium ions and similar metal ions to dissolve out into drinking water.
The rain falling on the ground penetrates deep into the earth to form ground water and springs from the surface of the earth again. The spring water contains dissolved therein appreciable quantities of silicon, sodium, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium and similar metals which are the main components of the crust and this water serves as mineral water suitable for animals and plants. The ground water collects to form streams and then rivers. The water in rivers and reservoirs provides a water source for water supply. The river water contains ammonia nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen from excrements and dead bodies of fishes and rotten vegetables and is not potable, unlike tap water, so that the water of rivers and reservoirs is treated to eliminate objectionable influences on man and animals, all as is well known.
It is further noted that even potable water like tap water contains some amounts of ammonia nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen, which tend to spoil the taste. Briefly, the lower the ammonia nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen contents in water, the more suitable the water is for living things. Accordingly, an attempt has been made to immerse a mineral such as unweathered perlite which contains magnesium, calcium and similar metal ions in tap water or similar drinking water, thereby causing the metal ions to dissolve out from the mineral into the water, to mineralize the drinking water, and the mineral water thus prepared is bottled and placed on sale. Such mineral water is free of deterioration even when reserved for a prolonged period of time, and is thus very advantageous to the growth of living beings and is also excellent in taste. However, known techniques used to artificially prepare mineral water having the above-mentioned outstanding features are primitive since the mineral is merely immersed in drinking water to permit the metal ions to dissolve into the water spontaneously. Thus the method heretofore employed is very inefficient from the viewpoint of mass production, with the result that the mineral water obtained becomes very expensive.